The week in review

AT HOME

SA`S FIXED-LINE operator Telkom has repurchased 17 million shares, or just over 3%, of its share capital since January 2004. In terms of a special resolution, the group is entitled to hold up to 20% of its own shares.

CALL-CENTRE operator Dialogue Group is planning to raise about R40 million to grow its business by listing on the AltX in September. The company says it can more than double in size within a year by opening a new call centre in Johannesburg to handle foreign contracts. - Business Day

MTN has paid out $3.6 billion in the first tranche of its $5.5 billion acquisition of Beirut-based Investcom, in a move it describes as one of the largest payments made by a South African company for international assets.

SA`S competition authority has given the go ahead for Business Connexion (BCX) to sell a portfolio of properties to Growthpoint Properties. The companies told the JSE that all conditions for the R379 million sale had now been fulfilled. The eight properties, with a gross lettable area of 48 065 m2, are in Midrand, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, and have been owned by BCX for almost a decade.

GOVERNMENT employees` pension fund administrator, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) said that it had been replaced by Citigroup as funder of the Telkom empowerment transaction that was completed in May last year. PIC said the change of funders would not alter the shareholding of the empowerment consortiums, which included the Elephant Consortium. - Business Day

THE SOUTH AFRICAN Revenue Service (SARS) received more than two million tax returns at the close of business on 14 July, which could boost revenue coffers, said spokesman Adrian Lackay. SARS was confident that when the final reconciliation of submission figures was completed by next week, it would show an increase of between 12% and 15% compared to returns submitted by last year`s deadline, he said. - Business Day

ALTECH, maker of telecoms equipment and with R1.5 billion in cash, plans to make acquisitions within six months and expand its Nigerian unit. Altech was evaluating opportunities in telecoms and IT in SA and Africa, CEO Craig Venter" rel=tag>Craig Venter said. - Bloomberg

BYTES TECHNOLOGY is cleaning up its shareholder base by offering investors with fewer than 100 shares a payoff of R12.40 a share, or allowing them to buy additional shares at R11.81. About 1 250 of its shareholders hold odd lots totalling just 36 114 shares, 0.02% of the shares in issue. - Business Day

CELLULAR GIANT Vodacom has entered the fray over guarantees that SA has given to Fifa for the 2010 World Cup. The company warned of economic damage to the country if extensive periods of "protection" are given to Fifa and its commercial partners. - Business Day

BONDS of mobile phone operator Cell C fell sharply last Friday, after Moody`s Investors Service cut its credit ratings and said the outlook was negative. - Reuters

CELLPHONE company MTN has put its muscle behind SA`s efforts to stage a successful 2010 World Cup tournament by pledging $65 million in sponsorship. Its commitment - about R468 million - is large enough to make MTN one of the global sponsors, ranking alongside Coca-Cola and Visa. It also makes MTN the first-ever global sponsor from Africa. - Reuters

INTO AFRICA

ANGOLA`S head of state, Jos Eduardo dos Santos, has set up an inter-ministerial commission for the co-ordination of a satellite telecoms project, tasked with preparing the implementation of the project, checking its technical, economic and financial viability, besides other duties. - Angola Press Agency

ETHIOPIA: The Addis Abeba City Land Administration and Development Authority has granted a 200 000m2 plot for what federal government authorities hope will become Ethiopia`s high tech hub. - Addis Fortune.

ETHIOPIA: The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation is about to issue the country`s first official telephone directory in January 2007.

KENYA: The Kenyan regulator has shown its resolve to halve telecoms costs by unveiling a $9.7 million study to review tariffs and rates. The Communications Commission of Kenya said the study would end in October and it would then use this to establish market retail and interconnection rates and tariffs. - Business in Africa

NAMIBIA: Powercom, which was recently awarded the second cellular phone licence, believes there is still room for growth in the Namibian mobile telephone market despite the strong performance by Mobile Telecommunications (MTC) in the last ten years. MTC claims to have 410 000 subscribers. - Namibia Economist

NIGERIA: Transnational Corporation, preferred bidder in the sale of Nitel, has been given a 60-day extension in which to pay for the ailing national carrier. It bought Nitel for $750 million - $500 million upfront and the balance to be paid subsequently, but was only able to pay $75 million upfront to the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

NIGERIA: MTN Nigeria appointed Ahmad Farroukh as MD and CEO with immediate effect. He took over from Sifiso Dabengwa" rel=tag>Sifiso Dabengwa, who has returned to SA to focus on his role as COO.

RWANDA: Rwanda`s two major telecom rivals, Terracom Communications and MTN Rwandacell, appear to have buried the hatchet in their long-standing interconnectivity wrangles. Terracom mobile customers can now receive calls from MTN-Rwandacell customers. - East African Business Week

UGANDA: The Uganda Communications Commission closed submissions from the public on the new telecom policy earlier this month. - East African Business Week

ABROAD

AMAZON has officially launched its grocery story in the US. The service has been available in beta since last month. It stocks about 10 000 non-perishable items such as canned goods, cleaning supplies and cereals. - vnunet.com

MICROSOFT has kicked off an "unprecedented" assault against software pirates with a coordinated campaign of 26 separate legal actions filed against alleged copyright criminals across the US. - vnunet.com

THE US has fired the first shots in a looming war with online gambling companies by arresting the CE of BetOnSports, David Carruthers. A recent bill to make Internet gambling illegal in the US has been passed by the House of Representatives, but is still to be ratified by the Senate. - vnunet.com

INTEL is preparing to lay off 1 000 managers across its global operations as part of an ongoing cost-cutting programme. - vnunet.com

A EUROPEAN court has annulled the European Union`s approval of a 2004 merger between Sony Music and BMG in a decision that could force the company to be unwound.

MOTOROLA launched a worldwide initiative to open branded stores in key markets with the opening of its first `global flagship store` in a busy shopping area in downtown Shanghai.

EMC, the world leader in information management and storage, reported revenue of $2.57 billion at the end of Q2 2006, 10% up on the $2.34 billion reported for Q2 2005.

SONY ERICSSON Mobile Communications, the world`s fifth-largest maker of cellphones, said second-quarter profit almost doubled as it sold more expensive handsets with cameras and music players. - Bloomberg

DUTCH GROUP Philips Electronics missed analysts` forecasts for second-quarter net profit, which was depressed by price pressure in LCDs. Net profit was 301 million, against an average forecast of 356 million in a Reuters analyst poll. - Reuters